Officer tells of guilt by relation

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The former police commissioner Peter Ryan has been accused of
hindering an officer's career because he was the brother of the
disgraced former detective Roger Rogerson.

Owen Rogerson, an officer from 1973 to 2001, is suing the police
service, saying it breached its duty of care to prevent him being
discriminated against, or his career affected, because of his
relationship to Roger Rogerson.

Roger Rogerson's reputation had started to come under a cloud in
the early 1980s. He was charged in 1987, and later jailed, for
conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Owen Rogerson says he left the service when he was 46 because of
depression, anxiety and stress, after missing out on career
opportunities and after repeated innuendo and questions about his
brother. He is seeking compensation in the District Court for the
injury and loss of income.

Yesterday his barrister, Arthur Moses, said Owen Rogerson had
been an acting inspector in the Licensing Enforcement Agency in
January 1999 when he was recommended for a secondment to the Casino
Surveillance Division by his boss, the then assistant commissioner
Clive Small.

But Mr Small later told him that Mr Ryan had opposed the plan
after discussion with the head of the Casino Control Authority,
Lindsay Le Compte. Mr Ryan had told Mr Small he could not support
the secondment "because of the relationship with his brother".

It was "decent human conduct" that a person was judged on his
performance, not on to whom he was related, Mr Moses said. "That's
not the way Australian society conducts itself. Regrettably
Commissioner Ryan didn't seem to understand that."

John Maconachie, QC, for the police service, says the decision
was made by Mr Le Compte, not Mr Ryan.

Mr Maconachie said Owen Rogerson was a valued and respected
officer and was not treated badly because of his brother. He had
missed out on a promotion because he had performed poorly in
psychometric tests in 1998, he said.